The Half Breed Chronicles: The Fifth
by worldsapart
Summary: We are unlike anyone else on Earth, or so we thought. But we are not the only ones, and it is our duty to stop the Yeerks with the help of some friends. We are Earth's last hope...we are the Half Breeds.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This site didn't used to allow chapters (yeah, I'm an old timer), and this story was posted in one big chunk when I was still used to the old format (right after chaptering started). So now I'm FINALLY getting around to a little maintenance and chaptering this story. No new material--just fixing it up.

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Chapter 1 

This place was completely new to me. I really hate new places. And of all the unfamiliar places I could be, this was the worst.

School.

Let me back up. My name is Eliza. That's all you need to know for now. Telling you more at this point would just confuse you.

Anyway, my dad and I had just moved to a new town, and I was starting my first day at my new school. The problem was, I couldn't find my first period class. That's when I realized how much I hate new places.

"Excuse me," I started several times. "Could you tell me-" It was no use. No one had time to stop and help the poor new girl.

I was about ready to give up and go back to the office to ask directions when I saw him.

The hall had nearly cleared by now and he was standing by his locker alone, his head lowered. He was strikingly handsome, but that's not what caught my attention. It was that he looked so sad.

"Excuse me," I said gently, deciding to try one more time. "I don't want to bother you, but I'm new here and a bit lost." I grinned sheepishly.

I don't think he quite heard me at first, but he turned toward me, and after a moment he smiled a soft smile.

"Where are you trying to get to?" he asked kindly.

I looked down at the paper in my hand to make sure I had it right before answering.

"Ms. Abernathy's room. Chemistry."

"Ah," he said, trying to perk up. "One of the hardest areas to find and they give it to you first thing." He chuckled. "I can show you. It's on the way to my class, Biology."

We walked silently down the hallway for a few seconds before I turned to him and held out my hand.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm Eliza. I just moved here."

"Jake." He shook my hand. "Welcome to our wonderful estrablishment," he added, making a dramatic gesture to the grubby halls.

I giggled. "Well, hopefully the rest of the day will go more smoothly than this morning."

"That bad huh?"

I gave him a look that said "if you only knew" and then decided to elaborate.

"My dad's car got a flat on the way here, they lost my transcript from my old school, misplaced my schedule and then I couldn't find my first class," I said, all in one breath. "Until now, at least."

"Well," he said with a half-smile. "I'm glad I could make your life a little more bearable."

I looked at him then, trying to read behind the mask of his face.

"Are you OK?" I asked impulsively. Almost immediately I felt rude and wished I had kept my mouth shut.

He seemed surprised at my words but only asked, "what do you mean?"

I felt really bad. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry." I paused. "It's just that you looked upset when I walked up."

We walked silently again and I didn't press him for any information. I could tell by the stench that we were nearing the science labs. Then suddenly, Jake stopped.

"A friend," he said with a mournful sigh. "My cousin, actually. She died last week."

I was shocked by the words. Had I known it was something so heartbreaking, I wouldn't have dared let anything slip out of my mouth.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

He cut me short. 'It's OK," he said, trying to smile but failing miserably. "It's good to be able to say it out loud to someone that I know isn't going to be upset by it."

"How did she die?" I proceeded carefully.

He cringed at the thought of it, but recovered himself swiftly.

"No one knows," he said carefully. "It was extremely sudden. One minute she was bright and lively-" He started to choke up and paused a moment to regain his composure. "And then she was just dead."

"How awful," I said sincerely. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

"It's OK," he said again, absentmindedly brushing away the one tear that had formed at the corner of his eye. "Here's your class." He motioned to the door on our right. "Better late than never."

I hadn't even realized we had started walking again. My mind had been whirling with questions about this girl that I knew I couldn't ask. My curiosity would remain just that.

"Thank you," I said. "Chemistry awaits." I grimaced noticeably, trying to lighten the mood.

Jake must have noticed because he replied, "Ms. Abernathy's not so bad, or so I've heard."

"Good. Well, maybe I'll see you around." I gave him a little wave goodbye and stepped into a room full of faces. New faces.

I could barely hear Jake's reply.

"Maybe."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Things were going well all the way through third period. I had study hall and started up a conversation with the girl next to me, as I had no work to do at the time.

She seemed to be working on some sort of math homework, but she was distracted. That's when she noticed me sitting there quietly, staring off into space.

"You're new here, aren't you?" she asked nicely.

I jumped. I had been daydreaming. Then I nodded.

"I'm Cassie," she said.

"Eliza," I replied with a smile.

"Did you just move into town?"

"Yeah," I said. "My dad works for a consulting firm that just opened up a new branch here and he got transfered." I paused and looked around the room. "Hence new school."

"That must be rough," Cassie said. "I can't imagine having to leave all my friends and everything in the middle of the school year."

"Yeah. It is." But it wasn't really true. She didn't know that I had pretty much been a loner at my last school. "But things here are going alright."

"I'm glad," she said sincerely. "So what do you have next period."

I looked down at my schedule and squinted to read the smudged bottom half of the paper: the secretary had spilled coffee on it after retrieving it from the trash.

"Looks like 'Lawn'." I giggled and handed her my schedule, hoping she could make something of it.

"Lawson. French," she said, recognizing it immediately. "Did you get a book yet?"

"Book? Was I supposed to get a book?"

"Well, they were supposed to take care of that at the office, but I know how they can be sometimes." She smiled thinly. "Madame Lawson is very picky about students having their books in class. Here." She reached into her bag and pulled out a textbook, handing it to me.

"Thank you," I said, a little surprised at her helpfulness. "But don't you need it?"

Cassie shook her head. "I had her last period, and there's no homework."

"When can I get it back to you? If I keep it until tomorrow this time, then you won't have it for class."

She thought for a moment, looking back down at my schedule to see if we had any more classes together before handing it back to me.

"I'll just hang around outside on the front steps a little while after school gets out," she said finally.

"Cool. I'll be there."

With that taken care of, Cassie went back to her math. Or, at least, she tried to. I would have offered to help- I'm quite good at math- but it didn't look like she was having trouble because she didn't understand. It was more like she was, well, preoccupied.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I was very glad to have Cassie's book in my French class, otherwise I probably would have been lost. Besides, Madame Lawson praised me for being such a responsible new girl. I let her think what she wanted.

After school I got a little turned around and ended up going out the wrong exit. The doors locked behind me. Not wanting to wait for another student to leave so that I could go back in, I decided to take the long way and walk around the outside of the building. I only hoped that Cassie would still be waiting for me once I got around to the front.

I was in luck because, when I finally found the front steps, Cassie was still there. I was surprised to find Jake, the guy who had helped me to first period, standing next to her. There was also another person, a short guy with dark hair, standing on the other side of Jake.

"Cassie!" I said, rushing up to her. I could tell they had been waiting a bit impatiently.

"Oh," she said, almost as if she had forgotten I was coming. "Eliza, hi."

Jake smiled in recognition at me. "How was Ms. Abernathy's?"

"Not to bad," I replied, returning his smile. "Though I'm glad I wasn't any later."

"You two know each other?" asked Cassie, confused. Then, for the first times since I had walked up, I noticed that she and Jake were holding hands.

"Yeah," I said. "Jake and I go way back to that miserable time in my life when I couldn't find my way to first period."

They all laughed at that, especially the second guy. He stepped a little closer and held out his hand.

"I'm Marco," he said with an overdone charming smile. "And you must be the beautiful new girl who's being whispered about across the guy's locker room."

I couldn't tell how serious he was, but I blushed anyway. He locked eyes with me, almost as if studying me, and then broke it off almost immediately.

"Oh! I nearly forgot," I said, retrieving Cassie's French book from my bag, checking to make sure it was hers and not the one I had picked up from the office during lunch. I handed it to her.

"Thanks," she said. I noticed that she and the others occasionally glanced around. They must have been waiting on someone besides me.

Jake looked up at the sky nonchalantly. "It looks like it might rain."

The rest of us looked up too. I didn't see more than a few scattered grey clouds, and was about to point this out when I noticed the hawk.

It was soaring in near proximity to the school. And I do mean soaring. I was amazed at how beautiful and agile it was in the air. I mean, I had seen hawks before, but for some reason this one seemed to entrance me.

The others must have noticed my staring because I could feel their eyes on me. I shook myself back to reality.

"Sorry," I said. "I've always had a thing for birds." It was the best excuse I could come up with, though it was mostly true.

Cassie looked excited. "You like animals?"

I nodded. "Especially birds of prey." I glanced back up at the sky, but, to my dismay, the hawk was no longer visible. I shrugged. "Must have found something to eat."

Marco giggled a bit at the last comment, but stopped after a stern look from Jake. I was confused by this and was going to say something when another guy walked up.

He was tall and lanky, but had a very confident, almost stern face. It was only when he saw me that it softened a little.

"Eliza," said Cassie, stepping up to make introductions. "This is our friend Tobias. He, um, goes to a school across town. Tobias, this is Eliza. She's new here."

I barely registered that she was speaking to me. I could not take my eyes off the newcomer, Tobias. I stared deep into his eyes, and the strangest feeling came over me. I shuddered and took a deep breath, barely able to manage the whisper that came out of my mouth.

"You're the ones."

I saw a panicked look go between the four of them and I could tell at that moment that my instinct, my sixth sense if you will, had been correct.

Jake recovered the quickest because he was the first to speak. "What do you mean?"

It would have been convincing, had I not known what he was hiding. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, letting my surroundings sink in. After a few minutes, as I had feared, the feeling was there.

"It's not safe to talk here," I said. "I'm assuming you have somewhere more private where we can discuss this." I hoped they would take the hint.

Cassie started to move and then hesitated. After another conferring look went around the group, Jake nodded.

They moved without a word, motioning my to come with them. They kept a close eye on me, especially Jake and Tobias. I expected no less of them, and found myself admiring the way they had cooly shifted from friendly schoolmates to the serious bunch that surrounded me.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

We had to take a bus to get to our destination, and when we arrived I found that we were on a fairly secluded farm at the edge of a some woods. I found out later that it was Cassie's family's farm.

We went into the barn and Cassie carefully closed the door behind us. It was full of various animals in cages. They all seemed to be injured or sick. One animal in particular drew my attention.

It was a red-tailed hawk- the very same species, if I was not mistaken, as the one that I had been drawn to outside the school. This one did not seem to illicit the same effect from me, but there was still something about it ...

As I walked over to its cage it regarded me with little more than a cursory glance and then went back to preening its feathers. There were no visible injuries, but its pain seemed to radiate through my body.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked, noticing Cassie beside me.

She squatted down and pointed to the bird's legs. I joined her and could clearly see now what was wrong. One of the legs was terribly mangled, probably useless now.

"Some boys thought it would be fun to shoot hawks," said Cassie. "Luckily they only got the leg, but-"

"She would have rather died," said Tobias bitterly. "Now she won't be able to hunt properly."

I glanced back at him, surprised at the tone of his voice. Once again, I was trapped for a moment in those eyes. I tried to make some sense of what I was feeling.

Jake was impatient and snapped his fingers in front of my eyes.

"OK," he said. "What is it exactly that you want to discuss with us?" His tone wasn't nearly as pleasant as it had been when I had spoken with him earlier.

I nodded and took a seat on one of the wooden stools near me, motioning to the others that they might want to sit as well. Only Tobias remained standing.

"I know you don't trust me now," I started, breathing steadily. "And that's good. You shouldn't. I only hope that after I explain everything, you will."

Jake's eyes bade me continue, but I could not yet. I glanced at each one of them, making mental notes. I didn't let my gaze rest too long on Tobias. Then I looked at my watch.

"If I'm not mistaken, there is a member of your group missing." When that provoked no response, I continued. "And Tobias," I said, not quite meeting his eyes. "This may take a while. You'll probably want to resume your natural shape before I begin."

That did it. They all looked surprised and Tobias stood up much straighter.

"My natural shape? What do you mean?" His questions were more to question my knowledge than to deny that he had a different natural shape. He wanted to know if I knew what that shape was.

"The hawk," I said simply. "The one that was flying above the school. "I looked at my watch again. "It's been over an hour."

He was taken off guard, and looked to Jake for help. Jake also looked amazed, but his reason held.

"You'd better get Ax, too," he said to Tobias, giving his unofficial permission to do what I had suggested.

They didn't ask me any questions and I said nothing else. We all waited for Tobias and the other to return. We didn't have to wait very long. The hawk, Tobias, flew in and landed on the rafters above. The other entered through the door, a human.

"Hmm," I mused. "You have a very interesting human shape. If that's the way you prefer things, then I'll start my tale."

They all looked at me in anticipation. I struggled to find the correct place to begin.

"My mother told me from the time that I was very young that my life was not without greater purpose," I started. "You see, my mother is what you might call a 'seer' among her people. Besides having amazing insight, she sometimes sees things in the future, or sometimes just senses them. For instance, she might sense great danger yet not actually be able to picture an invading army.

"She passes any relevant information on to me," I continued. "Sometimes not even her visions, but just rumors she's heard. Those can turn out to be very useful, especially in conjunction with her sight.

"It has been rumored for a while now among the Andalites that there is a small band of Andalite warriors stranded here on Earth." I stopped because I realized they were all gaping at me again.

"How do you hear Andalite rumors?" asked the one that I recalled Jake calling "Ax".

I laughed. "Well, I suppose because I'm somewhat of an Andalite rumor myself."

"Why would the Andalites have reason to talk about you?" asked Cassie.

I looked around at them to make sure I had their full attention, even Tobias above. Not surprisingly, I had.

"There is only one rumor that is more prominent than that of what the Yeerks call the 'Andalite Bandits'," I started to explain. "And that rumor is the one that I'm proud to hold all- Rather, half the proof to."

I could tell I had them in complete suspense, so I didn't delay any longer.

"I'm part Andalite."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

If anything I had said before this statement had surprised them, you would not have been able to tell in comparison. Tobias even flew down to rest on the edge of the table next to me, glaring at me with his intense eyes.

Ax was completely beside himself.

"But that's impossible," he said simply. "There is no such person."

I only smiled back at him knowingly.

"Alas, my Andalite friend," I said, once again throwing him a bit. "You are too right. There is no such one person."

He looked very satisfied with himself and I almost hated to disappoint him.

"There are two."

That's when Jake stood up from his listening seat and decided it was time to ask questions.

"So you are saying that here on Earth there are two half-Andalite, half-humans passing as humans?"

"No. I'm not anywhere near half Andalite. Only part. Enough. But yes to the rest."

"So who is the other one?" Jake asked, brow furrowed.

Then it was my turn to be surprised. "You mean you don't know?"

Then, to my further shock, I turned to see Tobias morphing back to his human form next to me.

It was the first time I had ever seen anyone morph, and let me tell you, if you've never seen it- if you've only heard descriptions, like I had- it is very shocking.

His legs started to change first. They grew longer and thicker until he had an enlarged hawk body on human legs. Well, nearly human. He still had sharp talons on his feet.

Next came the feathers. They started to melt together, almost like clay, as his body started to shift. His wings stretched and shifted and started to look like human arms, only they were still covered in the feather pattern.

The last parts of him to changed were his eyes. Those beautiful, fierce eyes melted into his equally beautiful human eyes, and he struggled to bring them into focus. Despite their softness, his eyes still almost looked fierce, as if he didn't know how to look anything but.

"Oh, you mean Tobias," joked Marco. "I thought you meant soe other freak." He laughed.

Both Tobias and I turned to stare at him.

"No offense," he added, holding up his hands defensively.

"I'm not part Andalite," he said seriously. At least, I think it was serious, because his facial expression didn't change.

"What do you mean? Of course you are."

"Elfangor- my father- was Andalite, but he morphed human," said Tobias.

I nodded, understanding his confusion.

"But there was still a part of him in that morph. It wasn't pure. It was a mix, and he left part of himself in it."

Marco looked at me intensely.

"So what part of you is Andalite?" he asked. "Are you hiding some blue fur somewhere or something?"

"There's very little physical resemblance," I said with a shrug. "My eyes are the same color, and I was born with a fifth finger on my left hand." I held out my hand and indicated where a scar was barely visible. "They took care of that when I was born, of course."

"You said something before about your life having a greater purpose," Jake interjected. "What did you mean?"

I nodded. He was definitely on his toes. I could see why he seemed to function as the leader.

"It was my mother who made us move here. She had one of her not-so-clear visions, but she said I'd know why I was here when the time was right." I smiled to myself, marvelling at how right she'd been.

"Your mother is not on Earth?" said Ax. It was more a statement than a question.

"No," I replied. "She's back on the Andalite home world. My father's memory has been altered, and he only has the pleasant memory of a woman who died when I was five." I paused, willing myself not to think about it too much. I still missed having her around. "But I keep in communication with her, and her vision timed perfectly with my father trying to decide whether or not to transfer. I simply encouraged him in this direction."

Everyone was listening, but Ax seemed particularly interested in what I had to say, understandably.

"Who is you mother?" he asked.

"Her name is Ruthshadi-Abmeli-Sadul," I replied.

Ax was clearly impressed. So impressed, in fact, that he decided to morph back into his Andalite body. It wasn't any prettier than watching Tobias, though, for some reason, I had expected it to be.

She is greatly respected among our people, he said finally, when the change was complete.

"My full name is Elizafil-Monguav-Lothtube," I said, grinning at the astounded faces of the humans. Andalite names are for some reason difficult for them to pronounce. They probably would be for me too, except I'm used to them. "But my human name is just Eliza."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

They continued to look at me, and I realized that I still hadn't fully answered Jake's question.

"I'm still trying to work out all the particulars in my head, but I think I have a good idea what I'm doing here," I said to everyone, but looking at Jake. "But first I need to know a few particulars. Who gave you the morphing power?"

"Elfangor," answered Jake.

Prince Elfangor. Mom's suspicions had been right.

"And he supervised it himself? He didn't just give you the cube?"

"No. He did it," Marco said.

"OK," I said after a few moments thought. "Here goes. I don't think you'll like what I have to say, and I don't expect you to accept it immediately."

Cassie looked a little afraid and scooted closer to Jake, probably more for moral support than for protection. Marco was still regarding me placidly, but I could feel small waves of fear coming off him like heat. Tobias and Ax seemed the closest to trusting me--something they could just sense, I suppose.

I took a deep breath and decided to get it over with.

"You've lost a member," I said softly. "Your cousin. She was one of you, wasn't she?"

"Rachel," said Marco quietly, the only one who could manage to speak. "She was in eagle morph. She got injured and knocked unconcious before she could morph back. We brought her back here to try and help but ..."

I understood. They had thought they might be able to save her like any other bird at Cassie's clinic.

"But she didn't revive in time to morph back," I finished for him. "And after ... after she died, her body shifted back to human because she was still under the two hours."

Marco nodded, but there were tears on his face--on all their faces except Ax. He grieved in his own way.

"And it's only been a week?" I asked.

Jake nodded, still unable to speak.

"Then you won't have really noticed the effects yet."

"The effects?" asked Tobias.

I looked at Ax, expecting him to understand what I was talking about, but he didnt't. Then I realized that he would only be an aristh. Only full-blown warriors were supposed to know the things I knew.

"When Elfangor gave you the power to morph, he created what is called a Stothomil Group," I explained.

I have never heard of that before, said Ax, suddenly not quite as trusting. I am highly studied in morph tech— 

I cut him off, knowing the Andalite tendency to revel in their knowledge.

"It's classified information. Only high-ranking warriors and the equivalent are supposed to know about it."

He quieted, knowing that such secrets existed.

"It involves one morph-capable individual and five new initiates each touching one side of the cube," I continued to explain. "If done correctly, the members--the five new, that is--are bonded together. They draw on each others' strengths and reflexes."

"Well, that sounds smart of him," said Marco. "We can use all the strength we can get."

I smiled at him, but not for very long.

"There is a downfall though," I said. I hated to bring their slightly brightened spirits back down, but it was necessary. "Should a member of the five die, the others will lose their ability to morph. Slowly at first, but then at an exponential rate until it's gone."

They were certainly not happy to hear about this development. If they were silent before, they were exactly the opposite now.

Are you certain that my brother used this process? Ax asked me in private thought-speak.

"My mother felt it." I hoped he could hear me over the others.

"Wait," said Cassie, bringing everyone to silence. "We have the blue box. What are we worried about?"

I shook my head. "It's not that simple. Once the bond is set, it can't be undone. You will remain connected as before and cannot regain morphing independently."

Tobias had been watching me throughout my speech and had so far been quiet.

"We need a new fifth, don't we?" he asked, avoiding my eyes.

"Yes," I said simply. "Ideally you would need the same anchor--the morph capable person--as well, but since Ax is blood-related, it should still work with him."

"And you're the new member?" said Jake, a little more coldly than I would have liked.

"The new person has to be someone you trust--all of you--or it won't work. I can't deny that the thought had crossed my mind, supposed greater purposes considered and all, but it's completely up to you. But beware the time. If you wait until your powers are completely gone, you'll lose all the morphs you've acquired so far."

Everyone looked at Tobias, who seemed a little self-concious under their gaze.

"Even my human morph," he said, a touch of sadness in his voice.

I didn't bother to nod, knowing that he knew it was true.

"How long do we have?" asked Cassie.

"You'll probably start noticing the effects any time now," I said."Morphing will take longer and greater concentration. Your morph-time will shorten, and you'll no longer to be able to stay two hours." I paused, going over the equations I had learned from my mother in my head. "You probably don't have any longer than two weeks. And the last week of that you'll barely have time to morph before you'll have to morph back."

Sullen faces surrounded me. I knew they would want to blame me, even though they knew deep down that I wasn't the cause. It was a natural reaction under all this stress and grief, and I tried to prepare myself for it.

Jake, however, proved to be a stronger person than I had sensed.

"But can't you already morph?" he asked me. The frigid quality was gone, but he was still very distant.

"No. I hadn't even seen it before today." I had to stifle a giggle. "My mother said I was a very mischevious child, and she chose not to give it to me for fear I'd get into trouble. For a while I resented her for it, but now I understand her reasoning."

Your mother has great foresight, said Ax. It's too bad you didn't inherit her powers. 

I smiled. "But I did. At least, as much as I possibly could have from what she could incorporate into her human morph."

"You can see the future?" asked Marco, perking up. "Cool."

"No," I replied. "Not usually. But I can sense feelings. With someone I'm well-attuned with--my father, for instance--I can feel him from miles away by just concentrating."

They seemed slightly impressed, all except Marco, who seemed disappointed that I couldn't see the future.

"But that's not the best part," I said. "I've got one very useful skill--I can sense a Yeerk."

"You know when someone's got a Yeerk in his head?" asked Jake. He was definitely more  
interested in me.

"Yep," I said proudly. My Yeerk detection sense is my prized possession--even my mom doesn't have it as strong as I do.

"So name some," challenged Marco. "You've been at our school for one day, so you should have picked up plenty."

"The head secretary in the office," I started, gladly accepting Marco's challenge. "You'll have to pardon me if I don't know names.

"The brunette whose locker is next to mine.

"Almost the entire football team.

"Mr. Collins, the history teacher."

"I knew it!" said Marco suddenly. "I told Jake last week that he had to be a Controller."

Jake smirked and looked at me. "That's just because Mr. Collins gave him a D on his civil war paper."

I laughed. They all seemed to want me to continue.

"There are quite a few other random students, but-" I paused.

"What?" asked Cassie.

"There's a powerful one there too, a least fairly so. Probably not even a sub-visser yet, but still..." They looked at me expectantly. "The assistant principal."

Marco let out the breath he was holding.

"Chapman," said Jake. "We knew about him, thank goodness. I thought there might be someone else."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I sat there for a few minutes, not knowing what else to say. Our common goals aside, we didn't really know that much about each other, and it made the silence awkward. I glanced outside. It had gotten dark while we were talking.

"I better get home before my dad gets worried," I said. I started to stand up then stopped. "That is, unless you want to hold me for three days and make sure I'm not a Yeerk."

A few worried looks went between them. Apparently they had stopped worrying about that midway through my speech. Marco seemed to suddenly have realized that being a Controller would be an easy way for me to have known of other Controllers in the school.

"I don't think that will be necessary," said Jake calmly. He pushed open the barn door.

I walked out the door, knowing they were going to stay a little longer to talk without me. It was a lot to take in.

"See you at school tomorrow," called Cassie. I turned around and she offered me a small smile.

I smiled back and then started toward home. Cassie's farm actually isn't far from my house. I kind of like on the outskirts of town.

About halfway home I stopped suddenly, alarmed by the eyes that I saw glinting in the bushes across the street. I tried to keep walking and figure out what it was, and caught a lucky glimpse of it under a street light.

It was a dog, a golden retriever. It noticed me and started to come toward me.

"Nice puppy." It wasn't a puppy, but I call all dogs "puppy" for some reason.

Then I noticed the funny sensation that I was having. It wasn't something I was familiar with, but there was a certain "deja vu" quality to it nonetheless. I stooped to pet the dog, desperately racking my brain for some recognition of the feeling. I had learned early on that most of the things I felt meant something.

That's when it occurred to me. Tobias. It was how I had known that he was the hawk. I could sense morphs!

I concentrated on the dog as it stood there, playfully nudging me with its nose. The feeling became clearer. Yes!

Jake. Not only could I sense the morph, but I could tell who it was! I was getting nearly as excited as when I had discovered I could sense Yeerks.

They weren't going to lock me up for three days, they were going to watch me. I felt bad that they would have to stay up till all hours, but it was nice to know they were still thinking straight after everything I had thrown at them.

I straightened up and continued home, deciding against letting Jake know that I could tell it was him. He followed me all the home, but I couldn't see him any longer, only feel him. But I forgot completely about Jake when I got home and found my dad none too happy that I hadn't called.

"Where have you been?" He wasn't quite yelling, but there was a definite edge on his voice. "I started to get worried you were lost. Maybe it would have been better if I had picked you up instead of making you walk."

You see, that had been the subject of an argument that morning. I didn't want to have to walk or take the bus, but dad had insisted that he couldn't leave the office to pick me up.

"No, it's OK," I said calmly. "I'm sorry I didn't call. It's just that some people I met met invited me to hang out with them after school." It was close to the truth, at least.

Dad's face brightened a little too fast.

"You made some friends already? That's great!"

His enthusiasm made me feel a bit self-conscious. I hadn't realized that he had noticed that I didn't have any friends in the place we lived before. I cringed at the thought that, depending on how Jake and the others judged me, I might end up the same way here.

"Yeah," I said after a pause that was a little too long. "The time just kind of got away from me."

He kissed me on the forehead and made a gesture toward the kitchen.

"I managed to unpack enough dishes to make some dinner. It should be ready in about ten minutes."

"OK," I said, smiling. I headed up the stairs to put my backpack in my room.

Once up in my new room I closed my eyes. It didn't take much concentration to tell that Jake was still outside. I resisted the temptation to look out the window, but I made sure to keep my curtains open so they would be able to see me inside.

Whew! I thought. What an interesting first day! I could hardly wait till my next conversation with my mother. I had a lot to tell her.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next day at school, I was exhausted. I had stayed up most of the night playing with my newfound since. I couldn't help it. It was thrilling to find out that I could tell just who was sitting outside my house, watching my window.

It was a good thing that school is pretty easy for me. Actually, school is too easy for me. Especially Chemistry. And Algebra.

You see, I've had an Andalite teaching me since I was old enough to be taught. You spend three weeks studying Malfeo's sub-zero space theorem and all those x's and y's in math class don't look so difficult anymore.

The one thing that really gives me problems is French.

"Et Mademoiselle Eliza! J'adore ton pantalon rouge! Ca va?" Mrs. Lawson launched at me in fourth period.

"Uh, je suis, uh ...," I stammered back.

She had complemented the pair of red pants I was wearing and asked me how I was. I just couldn't remember the word for "tired".

I have absolutely not problem understanding French. In fact, I could get dumped in the middle of Bulgaria and I would know exactly what everyone was saying. Before she left, my mother implanted a standard military translator chip in my head.

But I don't have the advantage of thought-speak that works on a level higher than verbal language. I have to learn to speak other languages just like the rest of the students. You have no idea how difficult it is to learn to speak a language when you can't do it simply by listening.

So after fourth period, I was really worn out and very ready for lunch. I came into the cafeteria and immediately noticed that Jake and Marco were sitting together, but Cassie was at a table by herself. I walked over and sat down next to her.

"Why don't you guys sit together?" I asked her after I was all settled in to eat.

Cassie glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear us.

"We don't want people to think of us as always being together," she explained. "We didn't hang out that much before, so we thought it best not to change it."

I nodded but remained silent. I was trying to decide when to tell them about my newest discovery. I decided then was as good a time as any. Plus I was dying to tell someone.

"You must be really tired," I said casually.

"Yeah," she said without thinking. Then she looked up at me, question and confusion on her face.

"That was you at my house from roughly four to six a.m., wasn't it?"

"How- how did you know?" Cassie gasped.

I smiled. Eventually I was going to lose my shock factor, but for now it was slightly amusing.

"I should probably tell everyone at once," I said. "Think we can arrange another after-school get-together? We can use my house. My dad's working late tonight."

She nodded sort of absentmindedly. She was still blown away by my knowledge of her presence. I wondered if she realized that I had sensed the others too, but she didn't ask, so I decided it could wait.

She would distribute the info to the others and we would all arrive separately. I knew someone would have to go tell Tobias and Ax. The only indication of out plans that I got was a serious nod from Jake when we passed in the hallway.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

That afternoon I hurried home and tried to make my room as presentable as possible with all the boxes left to unpack lying around. There wasn't much I could do, but I at least made enough room for everyone to be able to sit.

Tobias was the first to arrive. He flew in my open window. I could sense Ax not too far behind.

Hey, he said, landing on the back of my desk chair.

"Hi," I replied. "Is everyone on their way?"

Yeah. I think Marco had to stop by home first, but we're all coming. 

I heard a knock at the door. Ax had arrived.

"Hmm," I said, mostly to myself. "I wonder why he used his human morph."

How do you know it's Ax? I heard Tobias's thought-speak echo in my head as I walked down the stairs.

"Good afternoon. Noo-nuh," said Ax when I opened the door.

I stared at him strangely, but showed him up to my room. I had to steer him away from the kitchen. There were cinnamon rolls leftover from breakfast, but I had promised my dad I would save them for him. Ax seemed very disappointed by this

The others all arrived shortly after Ax, but I couldn't feel them coming since they weren't in morph. After I had everyone semi-comfortably placed in my room, I started my narrative.

"I'm glad you guys decided to watch me after all," I said, a pleasant smile on my face.

"What are you talking about?" asked Jake seriously. His face revealed nothing.

I smiled even bigger and picked up a sheet of paper off my desk. I started to read the notes I had jotted down.

"Jake followed me home in the morph of a golden retriever. Cassie joined him about 6:00 and he left around 6:30. She stayed until Marco replaced her around 8:00."

I paused to take a breath and check out their reactions.

"Tobias from 10-12. Ax from 12-2. Jake again 2-4. Cassie 4-6. Tobias came around 6:00 and followed me to school, if I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure of everyone's morphs, since I didn't actually see you, but I would swear that there was a fly buzzing around my window during Marco's time slot."

Marco smiled and made a little bow.

"You got me. But how did you know?"

"My inheritance," I said. "Like I said yesterday, I'd never seen anyone in morph before. Then last night I felt strange when Jake--the dog--walked up to me. I realized that I could tell it was Jake just by concentrating." I laughed. "After a little practice it didn't even take that much concentrating."

That's how you knew Ax was the one knocking at your door, realized Tobias. You can sense morphs. 

"Cool, huh?" I said.

Everyone agreed that it was a very interesting twist in my sixth sense.

"So how did you know when Tobias was here?" asked Cassie after thinking for a moment. "He wasn't in morph."

"Two things really. That puzzled me at first too," I said. "I can sense him, but it's not the same."

They looked at me strangely, obviously needing more explanation.

I can feel it too, said Tobias. It has to be something other than your extra sensory powers. 

That shocked me a little bit, but I didn't show it. I had never expected that Tobias would be about to sense me as well.

"And the other?" asked Jake.

"Oh! Process of elimination. If it wasn't one of the four I could sense, I knw Tobias was here." I shrugged.

"So anyway," I started again after giving everyone a few seconds to think. "It's the weekend. I'll be easier to watch, but if you can think of a specific way that it'll be easier for you, let me know."

Marco looked relieved. He was probably going to have had a double shift that night since he only had one the night before.

"You could spend the night at my house," said Cassie.

"Are you sure that would be OK?"

She nodded. "It would help me actually." She smiled an embarrassed smile. "My parents seem paranoid that I'm going to go spiralling into deep depression after-" She stopped, changing her words for everyone's benefit. "Rachel was my best friend. I think my parents would calm down a bit if they saw me with another female friend."

"I understand," I said. "I need to stick around here until after 8:00 though. Actually, you should all stay until then."

"What happens at eight?" Jake asked.

"ER reruns?" suggested Marco.

I was the only one that laughed. Everyone else stared at me. Marco jumped out of his chair and kneeled at my feet.

"Someone who understands my sense of humor!" he said, a huge grin plastered across his face.

"Don't encourage him," warned Jake.

"I talk to my mom every Friday at 8:00 p.m.," I said. "I know she would love to meet you all."

"How do you communicate, moony-kate, with her?" asked Ax.

I walked over to my desk and picked up a small silver compact. I handed it to him.

"I made some modifications. Downsized it a bit and hid it inside the compact, but it's still fully functional."

Marco was studying it over Ax's shoulder as I spoke.

"How do you turn it on?" he asked. "There aren't any buttons."

"I can't," I said with a sigh. "It's completely operated by thought-speak. An ability I wasn't fortunate enough to be able to inherit." I scowled a bit more than I had intended to. "That's why we have a weekly time. My mom can activate it from hers."

"Very nice," said Ax. He had popped the back of the compact off and was examining the inside. "You configured this by hand?"

"Yeah. It wasn't too hard once I calculated the oxibital matrices and converted it to residual solar energy."

Marco coughed with laughter.

"Ax finally has someone who'll listen to all his technical babble!"

Ax rolled his eyes as if to say "humans!", probably assuming I wouldn't take offense, even though I'm mostly human myself.

"Why don't you just get Ax to call your mother now?" suggested Cassie. "I'm assuming he knows how to use it."

He seemed offended, but I had to admit that it hadn't occurred to me that Ax would be capable of reaching the controls that I couldn't.

"I don't see why not," I said. "It's directly linked to my mother's communicator, so you don't have to worry about anything but initiating the connection."

He set the compact down on the desk.

"I will morph to my own Andalite body first, if you don't mind."

Yeah said Tobias. I think I'm going human for this. 

I had to close my eyes. I didn't want the others to see how nauseating it was for me to watch. I guess it's something you just have to get used to.

By the time Ax was done, Tobias was just beginning to shed his feathers. It took him nearly five minutes after that to finish his morph.

"Whoa," he said, bringing his eyes into focus on me. "That was a lot harder than yesterday."

Needless to say, the others weren't happy about this. I suppose they were all kind of hoping I would be wrong.

Are you ready? asked Ax.

"Yeah," I said to him, drawing the curtains. I addressed the others. "Don't be shocked. It's a holo-projection in actual size." I just wanted to give them fair warning. We all stood on one side of the room.

The connection has been initiated. 

A few seconds later my mother appeared in the middle of the room. Or, at least, it looked like she was standing in the middle of my room.

Eliza! My mother's thought-speak filled my head, and I could tell the others heard it as well. She sounded surprised.

"Hi mom," I said, bowing my head slightly in a gesture of respect. "I found what you were talking about." I waved my hand to the others in the room.

So I see, she said. The "Andalite Bandits"? She already knew--could feel--that they weren't all Andalite, but she found the Yeerk catch-phrase humorous.

I laughed.

"Yeah, with only one actual Andalite."

Ax lowered himself onto his front knees and lowered his head respectfully to my mother.

I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, he said. It is an honor. 

My mom laughed. Poor Ax. He didn't realize that living as a human for seven years had given her a great distaste for being regarded as superior.

The honor is mine, young Aximili, she said kindly. I know your family well. She turned back to me. And the rest of your friends? 

I introduced each of them, pointing them out as I said their names.

"Jake. He helped me to my first period class when no one else would.

"Cassie. She sits next to me in third period study hall.

"Marco ..." I realized that I didn't really know much about him. "He makes me laugh," I said quickly, unable to think of anything else. I was sure that would fall under Jake's definition of "encouraging".

"And Tobias," I said finally. "He- he's Prince Elfangor's son."

She didn't seem at all surprised by that statement.

We always figured you'd find each other, she said. Your life forces are unlike any other living creature's. You can't help but be drawn to one another. She paused. I did not realize, however, that he would be one of the ones. What an interesting turn of events. 

She seemed to search the room with her stalk eyes, keeping the stationary two on me.

Where is the fifth? 

I glanced at the suddenly grim faces in the room. I hated to be the one to always trudge up this grief.

"The Stothomil has been broken," I said softly.

Mom nodded.

I am sorry for your loss, she said to the others. I am sure you lost a great warrior. 

"And a friend," said Tobias, barely audible.

She nodded again.

Then your loss is even greater. She paused for a moment in respectful silence. The effects have begun then? 

I told her that they had.

Don't delay in reinstating your powers. There has been a disturbance- 

She was interrupted by Marco's sudden laughter.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "It's just that I couldn't help but feeling like you were going to say there was a 'disturbance in the force'." He laughed again.

If my mom had had a mouth, she would have been smiling brightly.

One of my favorite movies, she said. You would probably be amused, Marco, to know that there is actually a species bearing a great resemblence to the Hutts. Only they are a great deal more pleasant. Her eyes were shining.

Marco clearly appreciated that Andalites were capable of having a sense of humor.

"You sensed a disturbance?" Jake prompted. Always the one to bring us back to the relevant point.

Yes, my mother continued. The Yeerks are gathering forces for some sort of project.  
Everyone is assuming it's another anti-Andalite strike force, but I sense a different direction. There is a visser on the mission, Visser Two, I believe, and there is a large supply vessel. 

"Do you know what they are doing?" I asked.

I sense they are bound for Earth, but nothing else. 

"But what do you think?" When it came to piecing together tiny pieces of her vision, my mom could be a very good guesser.

She hesitated, but decided to speak.

I think they are planning to build another Yeerk pool. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Later that night I was comfortably situated at Cassie's house. She had stuck around long enough for my dad to get home and meet her. The others had left just after our talk with my mom.

Cassie's parents are great. She was right, though. They did seem a little overly-enthusiastic to see me there. It kind of reminded me of my dad's reaction when he found out I had made friends. And my best friend might not have died, but I understood what it was like to be lonely.

It wasn't that I had moved from a bad town. On the contrary, I actually liked the town itself. And from what I could tell so far, the Yeerk population was considerably less than that of my new town. The problem had been my school.

While we're not really rich, my dad is well-paid, and we lived in a fairly posh neighborhood. I went to a small private school open exclusively to our neighborhood, simply because all of the people that could afford the school lived in my area. Dad's not big on private schools, but it was the only school in walking distance.

And the problem wasn't that is was a private school or that 75 of the students were snobs. The problem was that the Yeerks had hit the well-to-do families hard. There was only one teacher in my school that wasn't a Controller, and only three students in my grade of thirty-five. I was one of those three. The other two were a snob and this really jerky goof-off guy.

So anyway, I had to admit that it was kind of cool to be invited to someone's house, for whatever the reasons. It had been a long time. Cassie's mom decided that the occasion merited making chocolate chip cookies, so Cassie and I helped.

"How are you liking it here so far, Eliza?" her mom asked me as I formed cookies into balls.

"It's not too bad," I replied. "I haven't really seen much of anything but the school so far, though."

"You'll have to take her down to the beach this weekend, Cassie." She looked back at me. "It's really pretty down there this time of year, even if it's still a little too cool to swim."

I looked at Cassie nervously. I didn't want her to be pressured into being my friend if she didn't want to, but she seemed fairly warm to the idea.

"I need to take you back to the mountains. There's this beautiful bald eagle whose territory is back there. Eliza likes birds of prey," she said to her mother.

"Sounds like you two will get along fine then," her mother replied with a smile. "I'm assuming you've met Bessie?"

Cassie rolled her eyes. "The red-tailed hawk in the barn," she said, speaking to me but looking at her mom. "I keep telling her that's a name for a cow."

I giggled and finished putting the rest of my cookies on the cookie sheet. We were on our last two pans--we made a huge batch so that we'd have some to give Jake and the others.

"Can we eat yet?" asked Cassie with a laugh when we had put the last ones in the oven.

"Wait for your father," said her mom with a smile. "He went to check on one of the horses."

We didn't have to wait too long for him to return. He came in and greeted his wife and daughter brightly. It almost most me wish I had a regular two parent family.

They introduced me to him and I noticed a satisfied look go between Cassie's mother and father. Cassie noticed too, and she glanced over at me with "see what I mean?" written all over her face.

After about ten minutes Cassie and I were able to retreat to her room with large handfuls of cookies. She made sure that her parents were still downstairs and then closed the door.

"Thanks," she said. "I can tell they're relieved."

"No problem. I think my dad was relieved to meet you too." I explained the deal with my old school to her.

"Wow," she said when I was done. "I can't imagine what it would be like if it were that way here."

"Well, the Yeerk population in general here is a lot more," I said. "But it's more scattered. I think you guys probably had a lot to do with that."

Cassie smiled gratefully. "This has all been really crazy." She glanced over at her calendar. "Oh wow."

"What?"

"As of tomorrow it has been exactly two years since Elfangor crashed here and gave us the power to morph," she said. "It doesn't seem like it's been that long."

A whole two years, I thought. That was really long time to fight, but it must have been so great to be able to. I had known about Yeerks since I was old enough to understand, yet was always left with the realization that I could do nothing about it.

"Cassie?" I started. Something had just crossed my mind.

"Yeah?" she asked. She had been deep in thought.

I cleared my throat. "Do you want to know? About your parents, I mean?"

She wrinkled her forehead, not understanding. Then it hit her. "Oh. My parents. Yes. Tell me."

"Yeerk free."

She let out a breath that I hadn't seen her take. "Thanks." When she didn't say anything else, lapsing back into her own thoughts for a few minutes, I couldn't stay quiet.

"Are you OK?"

Cassie nodded slowly. "I was just thinking about Jake. His brother is a Controller. I just can't imagine what I'd do if one of my parents was. Jake tries to pretend that he's used to the idea, but I know that it eats at him." She stopped, seemingly a little embarrassed to be discussing it with somone she barely knew.

"Do any of the others have family or friends who are Controllers?" I asked. "I don't want to sense one of them and be afraid to mention it if you guys already know."

She started to shake her head and then stopped.

"Marco," she said slowly. "His mom is a Yeerk, but everyone thinks she's dead."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why?"

"She faked her own death to be free from her human responsibilities," said Cassie. "She's Visser One."

I gasped and then wished I hadn't. If mom knew about this, which I'm sure she did, she had neglected to tell me. And the idea that the highest ranking Yeerk below the Council of Thirteen was in a human body terrified me.

"But she's not even on Earth right now as far as we know," she added. "So you don't have to worry about running into her."

I started to ask some more questions about known Controllers, but I was stopped by my senses perking up.

"What is it?" asked Cassie, noticing the look on my face.

I concentrated for a second to make sure and then turned to her.

"Tobias is coming this way," I said. "You better open the window."   
A few minutes after Cassie had done so, Tobias flew in and landed on top of Cassie's bookshelf.

"What's up?" asked Cassie.

I wanted to check and make sure you were OK, he said to Cassie. No offense, he added to me.

"None taken," I said with a smile. "It would be very possible for me to have a Yeerk in my head, and you have to be sure."

I don't think you are a Controller, Tobias said to me in private thought-speak. For some reason I feel like I'd be able to tell. But it's not my job to judge it, and I can't make a habit of letting down my guard just because my senses start going wacky. 

I started to blush a little at the idea of me making Tobias feel strange, because I knew what the sensation felt like. I quickly jumped back to attention, though, because I knew Cassie would notice if we were silent for too long.

"I'd ask you to stay for a while," said Cassie with a smile, "But I don't think my parents would be too keen on a guy sleeping over, and they'd really think I'd lost it if they caught me having conversations with a hawk."

I could imagine Tobias's human face laughing, but the hawk's reply was much more subdued.

See you guys tomorrow, he said, getting ready to fly out the window.

"Thanks for checking up on me," said Cassie.

Don't mention it, Tobias replied and then headed for home.

Cassie and I started getting ready for bed. I was thinking back over the past two days and realized the one subject none of us had broached since hearing of it ... the Yeerk pool. I don't think anyone even wanted to think about it. I, on the other hand, could hardly stop thinking about it.

After conjecturing that the Yeerks were planning to build a new pool on Earth, my mom had insisted that that was all she even guess. But the others didn't hear her private message to me:

I think it's going to be very close to you, Eliza, she had said. And if the rumors are correct, this is not a small project. I suspect that this would be the largest one to be built on Earth yet. 

It bothered me that I alone had this information, but I understood that my mom didn't want to burden the others with anything more than necessary until they had fixed their current problem. Without the renewal of the Stothomil, the Yeerk wouldn't be able to be prevented, and the renewal process is very delicate as far as mental preparation is concerned.

I was saved from my deep thoughts by another sensation. There was someone in morph outside the house.

"Ax is watching the house," I said as Cassie flipped out the lights and we climbed into bed. "You have great friends."

If I could have seen her face, I'm sure she would have been smiling. "I have a feeling that after this weekend, they'll be your friends too."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Saturday morning we slept late. Actually, Cassie slept and I just laid awake in bed until she got up. I knew she had to be really tired from the night before. I didn't think it would be good for me to be prowling about while she was asleep, so I stayed in bed.

"I think the guys are anxious to meet again," I said to Cassie once she was fully awake.

"Why?"

"Because they're all here." I walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains, searching the yard for a sign of anyone.

In the big tree next to the house, I heard Jake's voice say in my head. I was wondering when you guys would finally get up. There was playful reproach in his voice.

I looked at the tree, but I couldn't see anything though the leaves. I pointed to the barn and held up both my hands, hoping he would understand my message.

Ten minutes? he asked.

I gave him a thumbs up and saw a large bird fly out of the tree and toward the barn. I assumed he told the others because none of them spoke to me.

"What's up?" asked Cassie, having noticed my silence and hand motions. Apparently Jake hadn't extended the thought-speak to her for some reason.

"We're meeting in the barn in ten minutes. That won't be any problem, will it?"

"My dad might be out there," she said, "But if he is, the others will just come back and we can pick somewhere else."

"Cool," I said, closing the curtains so we could change out of our pajamas.

"You feel like breakfast?" she asked me.

I glanced at the clock and laughed.

"You mean lunch?"

It turned out that Cassie's mom had gone into work and her dad left a note saying he had gone to a neighboring city to check out a deer someone had found on the side of the road. We just made some sandwiches real quick, grabbed a tin of cookies and went out to the barn.

Everyone was already waiting for us, and no one was in morph. Tobias had posted himself as sentinel up in the rafters. All the humans looked glad to see the food.

"I knew you two had to be angels," said Marco as he stuffed the sandwich in his mouth.

I only laughed, blushed slightly and then quietly continued to eat my sandwich. I was really  
hungry too.

"As much as I hate to say it," said Jake after a few minutes, "We really need to talk about this new Yeerk pool thing."

Yes, said Ax. This is a great challenge. We cannot let them build another large, fully-functional pool. 

Once again, it was up to me to step up and be contrary.

"Uh guys?" I started. "I hate to bring this up, but you've got something a little more pressing than  
that to worry about."

"What could be more pressing than a new Yeerk pool?" Jake asked. He still didn't quite trust me. I didn't point out that he had gotten the information about the pool through me.

"Like the fact that you will be pretty much useless against the Yeerks if you don't fix your morphing powers soon," I said as calmly as I could.

"Eliza's right," said Cassie. I could tell that she hated to sound like she was disagreeing with Jake.

"OK," said Marco, rubbing his hands together. "We all know that Eliza's not a Yeerk. I mean, we talked to an Andalite last night. So let's just whip out the blue box, initiate her and then kick some Yeerk butt."

I was flattered that Marco had accepted me so quickly.

It is true that a Yeerk would not have contacted the Andalite home world, especially allowing me to do it. I also believe that Ruthshadi-Abmeli-Sadul would know if her own daughter had been infected. 

There was a moment of silence while everyone mulled this over in their heads.

"She can't replace Rachel," said Jake, so quietly that it was barely audible.

That shocked me a little, but what Cassie said shocked me even more.

"Is that what this is about?" she said, her voice louder than normal. "Do you think somehow that by picking a new person we're trying to forget about Rachel?"

Tears started streaming down her face, but she didn't stop talking.

"I cared about Rachel just as much as you did, Jake. And the one thing that I'm certain of is that she wouldn't want her death to stop us from fighting."

She would want us to fight harder, interjected Tobias. And if she knew that meant finding another person to join us, she would be glad to know we had someone with as many talents as Eliza to do it. 

"Fine," said Jake. "But we wait the three days out just in case. We can do it Monday after school."

He seemed to think that would imply the end of the meeting, and he stood up to leave.

"Stop," I said without looking up. Jake slowly turned around and they all looked at me.

"If Jake doesn't trust me, then I'm not doing it." I looked directly into his eyes. "The balance in the Stothomil is delicate. It's not worth risking a mistake."

Everyone turned toward Jake expectantly, but he just shook his head as if it were all too much for him.

"I need some time alone," he said and walked out the door.

There was uncomfortable silence in the room for a while. No one could figure out anything to say after what had just happened.

"I think he'll come around," said Marco after a few minutes. He looked at me. "I wouldn't take it personally. He knows that we need you and that you aren't doing all this to hurt us. He just hasn't realized it yet."

I nodded, but I wasn't so sure he was right. Jake had seemed very angry with me.

Cassie must have noticed my doubtful expression because she felt the need to explain.

"He thinks it's his fault," she said quietly. "Rachel and Jake were partnered up to attack this one group of Hork-Bajir Controllers. They were going to go in, find a hiding place and morph to something stronger than birds.

"When Jake came out in his tiger morph and didn't see Rachel, he just assumed she had found something else that needed taking care of. Rachel was very impulsive," Cassie explained. "He tried calling out to her in thought-speak, but when she didn't answer he just assumed she was out of range.

"Tobias was flying lookout overhead and spotted her crumpled on the ground. Apparently the Yeerks had just assumed she was already dead." She paused to take a deep breath. "Jake still hasn't forgiven himself for not checking on her. He has it in his head that if only he had found her sooner ..." Cassie couldn't continue.

"He takes too much responsibility on himself," said Marco. "Sometimes I'm afraid he'll crack under the pressure, but this is the closest he's come to it."

I sat silently, listening to them relate the history, but as I did, I tried to stretch my mind out to Jake. I knew that I probably wasn't well-attuned enough with him yet, but I tried anyway. After a few minutes, I found that I could barely feel him, distantly.

There was anger there, but mostly there was just sadness.

If this Stothomil thing is as delicate as you say, then I think we all need some time to think this over, said Tobias. You guys go on. I'll take watch for today. 

They gladly took him up on this offer. Cassie was still really upset, and I think Marco was itching to go after Jake. Ax was probably tired after having spent most of the night watching Cassie's house.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

After everyone had gone, I followed Tobias as well as I could until we were deep in the woods. Apparently we were in his territory.

You'll probably want to stay here, he said. I need to hunt, and it's not exactly the prettiest thing you'll ever see. 

"If it's prettier than morphing then I think I'll be OK," I said with a slight laugh.

I don't know if he would have smiled or not, but he didn't protest when I continued to follow him. When we reached a clearing he spoke to me again.

There's a log over there next to that big oak tree. It'd probably be pretty comfortable to sit on. 

I followed his instructions and found that the log actually was fairly nice to sit on. I couldn't help wondering if he had ever morphed human and sat there.

Tobias caught a thermal and soared high above the meadow searching for the perfect prey. I saw him swoop down and then he retreated to the edge of the woods a little way away from me. I guess he still wasn't comfortable with me watching him eat.

I waited patiently for about fifteen minutes and then was surprised to see Tobias walk through the trees in human morph. He sat down on the log next to me.

"Can I ask you something?" he said seriously. He didn't look at me.

"Sure."

"What was it like?" he asked. "Growing up with your mother on another planet and your dad having no clue?"

I smiled. Tobias was curious to know what his family might have been like if he had known his father.

"It was sort of frustrating at time," I said. "I always had to pretend that my mom had died when I was little and that I barely remembered her. When I was younger I used to slip up with my dad and refer to her in the present tense, but I think he thought it was an imaginary friend sort of thing."

"But it was a family," said Tobias sadly.

"Yeah. It was a family." I looked at him, trying to study his face. After a few minutes, he looked up at me as well.

Surprisingly, we didn't lose ourselves in the gaze for once. Maybe we just got used to each other or something, I don't know. I was glad though, because I didn't like have to avoid his eyes.

"I keep telling myself that it was all necessary for me to be there, at that moment, when Elfangor gave us hope of surviving." Then he laughed suddenly. "Elfangor. Dad. My dad. It's beyond comprehension."

I wasn't quite sure what I could say. He probably hadn't even been this honest with his friends. I almost felt like I was intruding, eavesdropping on a private moment, even though I hadn't asked him to confide in me.

"Fate's screwy like that," I said carefully. "My mom sometimes sees the future and I still don't understand it."

We sat in silent understanding for a few minutes before we spoke again. The wind was blowing really hard, and I notied Tobias shiver in the minimal clothing he had incorporated into his morph.

"I gonna morph back if that's OK with you," he said. "I probably shouldn't risk the limit right now anyway."

"You have a choice here, you know," I said.

"A choice?" asked Tobias. "About what?"

"When you renew your morphing powers, you can do it as human."

He looked shocked. Apparently the idea hadn't crossed his mind.

"Human?" he said tentatively. "It's been so long ..." Then suddenly he shook his head. "I can't lose the hawk."

I nodded. He was almost as much hawk now as he was human. That was important to him.

"You don't have to."

Again, he looked shocked.

I shrugged. It was simple, really.

"The hawk is your real body right now. All we have to do is draw a little blood. Then once you've gotten your powers you can reacquire yourself," I explained.

Tobias mulled the idea over in his head. Then he smiled sadly.

"Rachel would have liked it to be possible," he said softly. "But even now I would have nowhere to go. I won't go back to living with my indifferent relatives. I would rather stay a hawk."

I had nearly forgotten the whole beginning of the conversation. Tobias had no on. His father was dead, probably his mother as well. What relatives he did have obviously wanted nothing to do with him.

But he had his friends. And now, he had me.

Late that afternoon Ax took over the watch. He morphed human and came over to my house. I made the mistake of inviting him to dinner.

It started out fine. My dad was happy to meet another of my new friends so soon, and had even winked at me in finding that I had a guy friend. I was really glad that Ax was oblivious to all this.

The problem came when we started to eat. My mom had told me about the wonders of taste for her, but I thought she was exaggerating. Apparently not. Ax went absolutely crazy over Mexican casserole.

After a seemingly neverending meal and a lot of strange looks from my father, Ax and I went up to my room. I had a favor to ask of him, and I after dinner I thought I deserved it.

"Of course," he said to my request. "It is extremely unfortunate that you cannot activate the communicator yourself."

I needed to talk to my mom, and Ax was the only one who could make that happen faster than the next Friday. After making sure that my dad was securely planted in front of the TV, he made the connection.

Eliza, said my mom, not seeming quite as surprised as I had expected. Is something wrong? 

"No," I said quickly, not wanting her to worry. "I just need to know some things--to help a new friend."

Of course, she said. What do you need to know? 

"You knew that Prince Elfangor had a human child?" I asked.

Yes, she replied. We had a lot in common, Elfangor and I, and he told me everything he could. 

"Why did he leave?"

Ellimist. He had a destiny to fulfill and Ellmist took him away from Earth, changed memories and restored his Andalite body. 

"But Tobias remained," I said. "Is there anyone else? Do you know if he had friends here? Anyone that still has memories of him?"

You do have a lot of questions, she said. What are you searching for? 

"A family," I said softly. "I want to find a family for Tobias."

My mom nodded. It has been a long time since Elfangor told me everything. It is all recorded in my journal. Give me a day to see what I can find. I'll contact you tomorrow at five in the evening Earth time, OK? 

"OK," I said. "And mom?" I added just before she broke the connection. "Thanks."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Monday morning I was in the clear. Jake avoided my gaze in the hallway, but at least he didn't seem angry anymore. It was about that that Cassie and I talked in study hall.

"I talked to Jake," she started, whispering both to avoid someone overhearing and so as not to disturb the others trying to work.

"What did he say?" I almost didn't want to know if it was negative.

"He's embarrassed," Cassie said. "Jake's not one to lose his cool often."

"I almost wish I hadn't just stumbled onto this," I said with a sigh. "It would probably be easier for him if it didn't seem like I was trying to force my way into your group. You should have been able to pick on your own."

"Eliza," she said firmly. "We wouldn't have known about any of this without you. We just would have suddenly been helpless and wouldn't have known why."

"I know," I said. "It's just that sometimes the way fate works sucks." I hadn't stopped thinking about Tobias. I was dying to know if my mom had found anything out.

"Yeah," said Cassie, not looking at me anymore. "But I know something that sucks worse."

I followed her gaze and saw that Assistant Principal Chapman had come into the room and was talking to our study hall supervisor. And then, to my absolute terror, she looked up at me.

"Eliza," Mrs. Bates said. "Mr. Chapman would like to speak with you."

I slowly stood up, trying to stay calm. I couldn't look at Cassie or I would have lost it. Why did the assistant principal want to talk to me?

Chapman was smiling at me as he motioned me out the door. We went down the hall and into his office. He sat down behind his desk and indicated that I should sit down as well. He was still smiling.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted your studying," he started. "But I just wanted to give you a personal welcome."

I could feel the Yeerk in his head, and that on top of the fact that I was extremely frightened made me feel nauseous. Still, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

He must have noticed.

"It's a formality," he explained. "I welcome all the new students." Chapman stopped for a minute and searched through some papers on his desk. "But I would like to give you this." He handed me the paper he had been looking for.

It was a flyer for a group called "The Sharing". According to the paper, it met every night of the week for some function or another.

"The Sharing is a social club of sorts," he said. "There are all sorts of activities and gatherings. It's a wonderful way to meet new people."

Innocent social club my butt. The Sharing had practically run my old school. But I didn't mention that I had heard of it, afraid that he might ask why I hadn't joined before. And even if I hadn't known what it was, it all would have been given away by Chapman continuing to wear the exact same fake smile.

"Sounds cool," I said, forcing myself to smile back. "Maybe I'll check it out once I get settled in."

"Good. You'll like it." He motioned to the door. "That's all I needed--you can go back to your class."

I gladly left, making sure to bring the flyer with me. That smile followed me all the way out the door.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Congratulations!" exclaimed Marco. "You've been given a clean bill of health!"

I was waiting for my bus after school. Everyone else had already gone on the one before, but I had stayed after late in History finishing a worksheet on the French Revolution. I had been the only one at the bus stop until Marco had walked up.

"And now you guys don't have to lose any sleep over me," I replied.

"Thank goodness. I'm not cut out for midnight vigiliance." Marco laughed a little. "So it's all go for tonight."

"I don't know, Marco. I need a little time. There's something I have to work out."

"If this is about the tension between you and Jake," Marco said, "Then don't worry about it. He's working through his own problems."

I shook my head.

"It's not that," I said carefully. I didn't want anyone to know what I was trying to do. It would be silly to get anyone's hopes up--especially Tobias's. "I just have to work something out on my own, OK?"

"What?"

I mustered up a smile for him.

"If everything goes the way I want, you'll hear about it soon enough. But for now, can you just tell Jake and the others that I need a few days?"

"A few days?" asked Marco, apparently a little surprised. "You were the one that said this whole process needs to be done ASAP. Now you want us to wait a few more days?"

"This is something that can't wait, Marco," I said. I hoped he would pick up from the tone of my voice that it was something important.

He shrugged as if it didn't really matter to him one way or another.

"Whatever you say," he said. "Though I don't think this is going to help matters between you and Jake."

"I know," I said with a sigh. "But hopefully I'll be able to explain myself and he'll understand."

My bus turned the corner and started down the street toward the stop. I got out my pass.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," said Marco. "Good luck with whatever you're doing." He started to walk off.

"Thanks. I'm going to need it," I added under my breath.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Five o'clock couldn't seem to come fast enough, but it did finally come. I had been sitting on my bed for half an hour beforehand, holding the communicator in my hand and waiting. Mom could sense the anticipation.

A little anxious to talk to me? she said right off, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Shouldn't I be?" I asked. "I'm kind of on a time limit here."

I know. She still sounded as if it were slightly funny to her. So I won't delay in telling you what I found. 

"You found something?" I jumped up off my bed, probably a little overexcited.

It might not turn up anything, she said carefully. But it's worth a try. 

I grabbed my pen and paper and nodded for my mom to continue.

Elfangor--Alan, I should say--and Loren had two very close friends. They were another young couple about the same age. The four of them frequently went out together, ate together, things like that. She paused a minute to let me finish writing.

The most curious part, she continued, is that they wanted children, but weren't able to have them. Elfangor said that, had he been able to stay, they most definitely would have been his son's godparents. 

My mom looked at me then, and her eyes seemed to reach into my soul. I knew she was wishing there was more she could do, but there was no more.

Their names were Bob and Madeline Albertson, she said. If they are still alive, and if the Ellimist didn't erase their memories, they would be your best bets. 

"And if they aren't Yeerks," I said softly.

Yes. Be careful. And don't expect too much. 

It was good advice, but I already had my expectations up. This was more than I had even initially hoped for.

"Thanks mom."

You're very welcome, she said. How are things with your new friends going? Have they chosen their new fifth? 

I looked back at her with one eyebrow raised, not taking a single word seriously.

"You already knew I would become one of them, didn't you?" She had never said it before, but I could figure it out now from the things she had said.

Yes. Though I wasn't sure until recently under what circumstances. 

I nodded.

"It's causing some conflict," I said. "They were close to Rachel, the girl that died, and it's making things complicated. Sometimes I feel like I'm forcing my way into their friendship."

Death is a complicated thing to deal with, mom said. But it will all work out for the best. 

I hate it when she says that. It never makes things easier, even if I do understand that it's true. But this time I just nodded, not wanting to drag the conversation out any longer. I had business to attend to.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Finding the Andersons was easy enough, considering they still lived in town. They probably hadn't moved since Elfangor had been on Earth. I called them, hoping to coax them into meeting with me, but it didn't come to that. One mention of the Fangor family and I was invited to dinner the next night.

Their house was beautiful--one of those old-style homes with the collumns in the front--and comfortably furnished. And it was big enough for three families to live in.

"Alan and I went to college together," started Mr. Albertson as we sat down to eat. He was in his late thirties with brown, neatly-trimmed hair starting to gray on the edges. His eyes were brown and soft, worn. "Brilliant man, Alan was. He helped me through many a class."

"We used to double date, the four of us," said Mrs. Albertson with a smile. Her face was still young, but there was something about her manner that made her seem older than she was.

"I was best man at their wedding," Mr. Albertson said. "Alan didn't have any family, so it was a fairly small wedding." He smiled at the memory. "He didn't care, though. I don't think he realized there was anyone in the room besides Loren."

Mrs. Albertson took the break in the conversation to offer me more mashed potatoes.

"What exactly is it that you're trying to find out?" she asked me curiously, not remembering what I had said on the phone.

I had to come up with the best cover story I could possibly think of. I didn't want to start out by lying to them, especially if things worked out like I wanted them to, so I kept it simple.

"I have some friends at school who were friends with Loren's son, Tobias. He stopped coming to school and seemingly disappeared a year or so ago," I said, trying to look like the concerned friend. "I thought I'd do a little research about his family and see what I could find out."

"So you didn't know Tobias?" asked Mrs. Albertson. She sounded disappointed.

"I just moved here."

"Well," said Mr. Albertson. "If you're looking for Tobias, you can stop your search." He stopped and took a long, drawn-out breath, seemingly to calm himself. "He's dead."

"D- d...dead?" I stuttered. It wasn't fake surprise. "How did you find that out?"

"A man came here a while ago asking questions about Alan. He wanted to find Alan to tell him that his son was dead." He looked slightly upset. "I don't know why he was looking for Alan. He didn't even know he had a son--he disappeared before Loren could tell him."

"How did Tobias die?" I asked carefully.

"Apparently he had been living on the streets," said Mr. Albertson. "I guess he ran away from that no-good brother of Loren's. I knew that arrangement wasn't going to work, but he was family and-"

"We would have taken him in if only we had known!" his wife interrupted, tears running down her cheeks. "He had to die out there all alone ..." Then she just cried on her husband's shoulder as he pulled her into a hug.

"I had better go," I said, standing up."Thank you very much for dinner and for everything you've told me. I'm sorry if I had to trudge up unpleasant memories."

Mr. Albertson looked up at me and smiled.

"Tell Tobias's friends to stop by any time. We'd love to hear about what he was like. Last time we saw him, he was a toddler."

"I will," I said, returning his smile. "You can count on it."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I hadn't stayed at the Albertsons' house for nearly as long as I had told my dad I would be gone, so before I could even really think about it I was in the forest, looking for Tobias. Naturally, he found me first.

Eliza, he said in distant thought-speak. What are you doing here? 

"What else would I be doing?" I replied, glancing up above me. Tobias swooped down into a tree near me.

Playing hide and seek with Ax? he suggested playfully.

"Ha ha," I said. "Very funny. Wait- Ax is here?"

Yep, said Tobias. He's standing about five feet behind you. 

He had obviously extended the thought-speak to Ax as well, because he took that moment to reveal himself.

I was just testing your senses, said Ax. I have been following you for about ten minutes. 

"I can sense morphs, Ax, not Andalites playing one player hide and seek. Not to mention I'm a bit distracted," I added, glancing up at Tobias again.

You wish to speak to Tobias alone? he asked me privately.

"I need to talk to Tobias," I said out loud, hoping Ax would see that I was answering him.

I will leave you then, he said to the two of us before dashing back in the direction he'd come from.

Tobias looked at me.

What do you need to talk to me about? 

The whole time I had been looking for Tobias, I had been trying to think of a way to tell him what I'd found out. I couldn't figure out any brilliant way of revealing it, so I decided on straightforward and honest.

"I found someone."

Huh? Tobias said. He was either not catching on or he was pretending to not catch on.

"A family," I said slowly. "A couple, actually. They knew your family."

No one knows my real family, he said bitterly.

"But they do, Tobias. They remember Alan Fangor. This man was his best friend."

If he believed me, he pretended not to care.

What does that have to do with me? 

"You could live with them," I said. "A family, Tobias. You could be human again."

He was silent for a moment, I guess trying to take the idea in.

How do you know they would take me in? What if they- He stopped and when he spoke again, his tone had changed. You can't do this to me again. 

"What? Tobias? What are you talking about?" One second there had been hope in his voice and then it was gone.

They're still trying to get at us through Elfangor and I'm not going to let it happen, he said.

"Huh? This has nothing to do with the Yeerks," I said, thoroughly confused.

But that's what you don't understand, Tobias said. It does. They invented this false couple that knew Elfangor to try and draw out anyone else that might have. It's not the first time they've tried something like this. 

"But Tobias, they aren't Yeerks." I hadn't expected the conversation to go this way. "If you would just-"

Stop, he said. Please don't do this. I can't get my hopes up like last time. 

"You don't understand," I started again.

No, you don't understand, Tobias said, starting to sound angry. You don't know what it's like to have no one and be faced with the possibility of having family just to have it ripped away from you again. 

"No," I said. "I don't understand that. I couldn't possibly." I took a deep breath. "But what I do understand is what it's like to have a family. And I know that no one should be without that."

Tobias remained silent, so I decided to continue.

"Just hear me out before you say anything else," I said. "I found out about this couple from my mom. Elfangor told her everything about his life on Earth. I went to see them and-"

You actually talked to them! What if- 

I cut him off before he had the chance to get any more upset.

"I didn't tell them about you. They think you're dead."

But how did they even hear about me? Tobias asked. No one knows where I am. 

"They said some guy came around asking about Alan Fangor, and he told them you were dead," I explained.

Visser Three, he growled. It had to have been him. 

"They were really upset to think that you died alone on the street. Mrs. Albertson said they would have taken you in if they had-"

She actually said that? asked Tobias, quietly.

I nodded.

But do you really think- 

"They couldn't have kids of their own. Elfangor told my mom that they would have been your godparents." I looked up at him, still sitting in the branches of the tree closest to me.

It sounds way too much like something I might have dreamed about to be true, he said.

I looked at my watch. It was getting close to time for me to be home.

"Listen," I said to him. "Think about it tonight. Unfortunately, this is a decision that has to be made rather quickly. If you decide you want to meet them, meet me after school and I'll show you where their house is, OK?"

Tobias didn't answer, so I assumed that was on okay. I started to walk away.

Eliza? came his voice in my head.

"Yeah?" I answered, turning my head back toward him.

Is this why you asked everyone to delay things for a few days? 

I nodded and when he didn't say anything else, I continued out of the forest. When I hit the edge of the tree line, though I was too far away to answer, I heard Tobias's reply.

Thank you. 


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I can't say that I was calm and collected the next day. I wanted to be, but I was way too nervous to even consider being calm. And it was strange, because I wasn't nervous for me--I was nervous for Tobias.

After school let out, I sat down on the front steps and waited. Twenty minutes went by and there was still nothing. It made me feel really sad.

"Eliza?" I head a voice say.

My head jerked around, but it wasn't what I was expecting. Jake was standing behind me.

"Can I sit down?" he asked.

"Sure." I wondered what he was going to say. Our last conversation hadn't exactly been pleasant.

Jake sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. He seemed to be mentally preparing himself for the conversation. The air was heavy with tension.

"I wanted to apologize for the way I acted Sunday," he said slowly. "I was really out of line."

I turned to look at him, studying his face. I could tell it wasn't easy for him to say those things, but he was sincere.

"Jake," I said. Time to get the conflict out of the way. "I know this isn't a good time for any of this to happen. I mean, there would never be a good time, but this is an especially bad one."

"But that still doesn't excuse."

"I think it does to a certain extent." I looked him straight in the eye. "If someone close to me had just died, I wouldn't be even half as composed as you all are. You've got a lot of pressure on you right now, and I understand that."

He was listening intently so I continued while I had the chance.

"And I'm sorry that it feels like I'm intruding--I don't mean to." I took a deep breath. "I can't say that it doesn't feel nice to have friends, or even potential friends, but I don't even know if I want the part that goes along with it."

Jake knew exactly what I was talking about, even if I couldn't say it outloud there.

"But I do know that I want the same outcome, and that's worth undertaking the responsibility. A responsibility that right now is quite huge." I laughed a scared laugh as I glanced around to make sure no one was standing nearby. "I mean, heck, the fate of the world is resting on my being willing to join you--there aren't exactly a lot of applicants for the position."

To my surprise, Jake laughed back.

"True," he said. He cleared his throat. "So what are we waiting for? Marco said you needed more time for some reason."

There it was. The question that I had been dreading to hear from him.

"Jake," I started carefully. "I know most of the things I've told you have pretty much had to be taken on faith. Well, this is one of those things that I just need you to trust me on."

"I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at," he replied.

"Nothing," I said. "I can't tell you why we have to wait. It's not my right to make that decision. All I can say is that it's well worth the wait, and I'm sure everything will be revealed soon."

I could see the gears turning in Jake's head as he mulled over my words. I held my breath.

"OK," he said. "Just try to keep my updated, and remember what you said about needing to do this soon."

"Thank you," I answered. "I will."

With that, Jake stood up.

"I guess I'll see you later then," he said, and with a little wave he started off.

"Bye."

When Jake was a block or so down the sidewalk, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks for not telling him yet," said Tobias.

"How long have you been there?" I asked. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

"Sorry," he said. "It took a little longer than I expected." Tobias pointed toward an alley down the street. "And I don't mean the walk from there to here."

"Oh." He meant that his human morph had taken a while to complete. "How long?"

"About fifteen minutes total," he said, as if he didn't even want to think about it. "And I finished about five minutes ago."

"Yikes," I said. "We'd better book it." I looked at my watch.

Three thirty.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

We walked to the Albertsons' house. It was slower, but I used the time to prepare Tobias as best I could.

"You don't have to smile a lot," I said, studying his face. "But you need to work on it just in case."

"I can smile," he said, seeming slight offended.

"Tobias, you may not realize it, but you hardly ever change the expression on your face. It's going to look really strange if you're laughing with a straight face."

Tobias nodded and half-closed his eyes, concentrating. Then he flashed me a cheesy grin.

"How was that?" His face reverted back to its hawk-reminiscent expression.

I couldn't help laughing. Hard.

"What?"

"It'll work." I choked down the last of my giggles. "Just remember to let your feelings show on your face, OK?"

We walked silently for a few more minutes and rounded the block onto their street.

"How are we going to do this?" asked Tobias suddenly. "They think I'm dead, and you didn't  
correct them before."

"I'll just tell them the truth," I said. "I didn't have your permission to be talking to them in the first place, so I didn't want to tell them the truth until you knew about them."

"But what if they're angry? What if they don't believe I'm me?" He was starting to have a major panic attack, and I could see every bit of it on his face.

I stopped and turned toward him, putting my hands on his shoulders. He stared back. I could feel every bit of fear and nervousness that radiated from him.

"It'll be fine," I said as calmly as possible. "They know your relatives are crap, and they will probably think of you as an independent street kid. They'll probably be cautious, but not harsh."

Tobias didn't say anything else, but nodded solemnly. We continued down the street until we reached our destination.

"Wait out here. That way I can explain what's going on before you meet them."

He didn't argue and stationed himself just around the corner from the door. I could tell he was holding his breath.

After a couple of quick breaths myself, I stepped up and knocked on the door. I heard heavy footsteps coming toward the front.

Mr. Albertson opened the door.

"Eliza," he said, a little surprised to see me. He turned and called into the house, "Madeline! Eliza's back!" His wife soon joined him.

"What can we do for you?" he asked.

"Actually, I have something to tell you."

"Tell us?" Mrs. Albertson said. "What is it?"

It was then or never.

"Tobias isn't dead."

I heard a sharp intake of breath come from Mrs. Albertson and her husband was obviously stunned.

"But, you ... I thought," he started, unable to get out a sentence.

"I didn't tell you before because I thought I needed Tobias's permission," I explained. "He didn't know I had come, and revealing him to you wasn't my decision to make. He didn't even know there were any friends of his parents still around."

"Where is he? Is he OK?" Mrs. Anderson suddenly burst out with. "Tell him to come here! If he needs somewhere to stay, tell him to come here! I don't blame him for running away from that waste of good oxygen!"

"Madeline!" said Mr. Albertson, apparently shocked at her criticism of Tobias's uncle.

"What?" she shot back. "All those years living with someone who could care less about children when we would have gladly ..."

"I was hoping you'd say that," I said. I was about to go get Tobias when I felt him walk up behind me. He must have been listening.

"Hi," he said quietly.

The Albertsons stared at him in silent disbelief and joy.

"You look just like your mother," Mr. Albertson said finally. He spoke very softly, almost as if normal tones would wake him up from the dream.

"Come in, come in!" Mrs. Albertson said, smiling brightly. They turned inside.

I started to slip away, but Tobias grabbed my hand.

"You can't leave me," he whispered. He was shaking.

We followed the couple into the house. They must have been doing some remodeling because there were measuring tapes and fabric swatches sitting all around the living room. But they were home. It hadn't even occurred to me that they might not have been.

I saw Mr. Albertson glance down at my hand, still held tightly in Tobias's. I felt myself blushing, but Tobias must not have noticed because he didn't let go.

"Would you like some tea?" Mrs. Albertson asked as we sat down on the couch.

"That would be nice," I said with a smile. I didn't think Tobias was going to be able to open his mouth.

"Mr. Albertson," started Tobias nervously.

"Bob," the man interrupted. "Please. Just Bob and Madeline. We'll feel really old otherwise," he added with a smile that seemed to take years off his face.

I saw Tobias's mouth curl upwards into a small, but unmistakable, smile. A real smile.

He slowly released his vise grip on my hand.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

It took a while for them to get used to the idea of each other, but as the conversation progressed, they did. Pretty soon Bob and Madeline were telling old stories about Tobias's family. Then came something I don't think Tobias had expected.

They had pictures.

Madeline pulled a photo album out of the cabinet beneath the coffee table. The white pages were yellowed with age, but the pictures were still bright. There, on the first page, was out first glimpse of something amazing.

Prince Elfangor's human morph.

He was sitting at a restaurant table with the Albertsons (though they probably weren't married yet) and woman that I assumed was Loren, Tobias's mother. The picture was probably taken in college, judging by their appearances and the large number of beer bottles on the table.

I would never have said it out loud, but Alan Fangor was actually quite handsome. Loren wasn't the only one that Tobias took after.

"You're kidding, right?" said Tobias with a laugh as he flipped through the photos. "My dad actually climbed the outside of the girl's dorm to the fifth floor?"

"Yep," said Bob. There was a far-off look in his eyes as if he were right back at that moment. "Just to get a goodnight kiss from Loren. Back then they wouldn't let guys into the girls dorm. By the time he got up there, there was a big crowd of guys on the ground cheering him on."

We laughed out loud.

"Not that old story again," said Madeline, peering out of the kitchen where she was starting dinner, with a smile on her face.

"You're just jealous that I didn't climb up to your window," Bob called back. "I'm deathly afraid of heights," he explained.

"So, you two are staying for dinner, right?" Madeline asked us.

On the brink of answering yes, I happened to glance down at my watch. It was 4:40! We had to get out of there or Tobias wouldn't have enough time to morph back! Being stuck as a hawk was bad enough--getting stuck half-morphed would be worse.

"Absol-" Tobias started.

"Actually," I said over him, "We have to get back. My dad's making dinner for us and we're running late as it is." I made a point of showing Tobias my watch, but it didn't wipe the confusion off his face.

"But, Tobias, you're welcome to stay here," said Bob. "We have several extra bedrooms and you can have your pick."

"It's OK," I said quickly before Tobias could speak up. "He's staying with me tonight. All his stuff's already there and everything."

I stood up and pulled Tobias with me. This time it was me with a death grip on his hand. I headed toward the door, though I hated having to leave so suddenly.

"Don't worry," I said as we exited. "We'll be back soon."

As soon as we were out of sight of the house, Tobias exploded.

"What was that about?!" he yelled, though he kept his voice low.

I didn't answer him right away, only kept dragging him through the street, searching desperately. Finally I saw it--a vacant house with a large dog house in the back.

"You're about two minutes from not having enough time to morph back," I said, pulling him toward the dog house.

"Is that all?" he asked. "I've already decided, Eliza. I'm going to stay human."

"Not right now you're not," I said. "Morph back. Now, Tobias. Before it's too late." I pointed to the small wooden building. "In there."

"Eliza-" he started, but I wasn't going to let up. Grumbling a bit, he climbed into the dog house and started.

It didn't take as long as I had expected, probably due to his anger, but it took longer total time because he morphed to hawk and immediately back to human.

"Now will you explain this to me?" he said as we walked back out to the street. "I don't know what they were thinking with us leaving like that."

"Tobias," I said, trying to show by my tone that his anger hadn't offended me. "If you had stayed human then, you would have lost the hawk for good."

I took his silence to mean that he had completely forgotten that part. After a few minutes, he turned to me and smiled.

"I guess that's another one I owe you," he said.

"Oh, don't worry," I joked. "I'm keeping an accurate tally."

"So what now?"

"Well," I said, "I do need to get home for dinner. Dad's actually getting home from work on time. I would suggest that you do your hawk thing and think about this--just to be sure. I'll call Cassie and get set for us to meet at her house after dinner."

"For what?" he asked.

"Blood."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

After dinner I called Cassie and asked her if I could come over for help with my French homework. She was a little confused, but I think she understood that I need to talk about a non-school subject. Especially since we didn't have any French homework.

Luckily, by the time I got there, Cassie's parents were collapsed in the living room after a hard day at work. After a quick hello, we both slipped outside. They didn't know I was supposedly over to do homework.

I wasn't surprised to find Tobias waiting for us in the barn.

All clear, he said from the rafters and then fluttered down near Cassie and I.

"Now are you two going to tell me what's going on?" Cassie asked. "I'm assuming this has something to do with our recent delay."

I looked at Tobias. This was no longer my responsibility.

I'm going to morph human, he said. And stay human. 

Cassie's eyes went wide.

"But-" she started. "Why now?"

First because I can still have morphing power, which was the main reason I stayed before. And also because ... 

"Because what?" she asked.

Because Eliza found a home for me. 

Cassie looked at me.

"A home? That's great! But who- and how?"

"Old friends of Al and Loren Fangor," I said. "Apparently the Ellimist didn't erase all human memory of Elfangor the human."

I met them today, Tobias said. They're great. 

"I practically had to pry Tobias away from them tonight," I said with a small laugh.

"So why are you just telling me this?" Cassie asked. "I know the others would want to know."

It can be a surprise. 

"But right now we need your animal expertise," I said. "Can you draw blood?"

"Of course," she said. "Why?"

I pointed to Tobias.

The other reason I never morphed human to stay. I didn't want to lose the hawk. 

"Thus, blood," I clarified.

"Alrightly Tobias," said Cassie, getting a sterile syringe from the cabinet on the wall. "Hop up on Dr. Cassie's work table."

Tobias eyed the inch-long needle wearily, if there was such a thing for a hawk.

Suddenly I'm having vivid flashbacks of hating this exact thing at the doctor when I was little. 

"Don't be a baby," said Cassie with a laugh. "Up you go."

Reluctantly, he gave his wings a good flap and landed on the edge of the table next to Cassie. The whole process took about two seconds.

Cassie held the syringe up and looked at it, then injected the blood into a test tube she had ready.

"I'll keep this safe," she said, stoppering it and tucking it into her shirt pocket.

Thanks, said Tobias. Well ladies, take one last good look at the old me. 

"You're going to do it now?" Cassie asked. "Where are you going to stay tonight?"

"With me," I said. I looked at Tobias. "After all, we can't start by lying to your new family."

True, he said. Here goes. 

This time his face changed first. I watched as his eyes melted into his human ones all the way through when his beak softened and shrunk into a mouth and lips.

I told myself that it was a historic event that needed watching, no matter how gross. Besides, I'd be morphing myself very soon.

When he was done, he looked down a surveyed himself, as if making sure he was all there before staying that way.

"I need to get back inside," said Cassie. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah," I said. "Let everyone know it's on for tomorrow afternoon."

"Sure." Halfway out the barn door, Cassie turned back around. "Rachel would have been really happy about this."

Tobias smiled a soft, sad smile.

"I know."

I followed Tobias silently into the woods. It was dark, but I knew that he knew exactly where he was going.

"I don't have a lot," he said, pulling some items out of a hollow stump. "Just some clothes."

He looked up and through the trees toward a nearby field. The sky was lit but the crescent moon, and I could see his face clearly.

"You're going to miss it, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Tobias answered. "It won't be the same after I leave. Some other raptor will take over my territory." He laughed shortly. "It's kind of funny to think that this is the most at home I've ever been."

"Not anymore," I said.

He smiled softly and sat down on the same log we had sat on before.

"Will you stay with me until it's finished?" he asked. "Here?"

I sat down next to him and reached for his hand.

"Of course," I said.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Tobias didn't come to school the next day. He decided to wait until he was settled in at the Albertsons' for that. He just hung around the woods near Cassie's all day, waiting for our after school meeting

I, on the other hand, was stuck counting down the minutes until school let out. Not that that's extremely unusual for me.

Cassie and I took the bus to her house immediately after school. Jake and Marco went back to their respective homes and dropped off their books and things. They were going to meet us at the barn, probably courtesy of a flying morph.

When Cassie and I arrived, her dad was tending to a newly injured rabbit.

"Got caught in a piece of an old barbed wire fence," he explained to us. "Luckily someone found it before it had a chance to struggle itself to death."

"Have you done the meds yet?" Cassie asked.

"Not yet," he replied as he finished dressing the rabbit's wounds and shut the door to its cage.

"I'll take care of them," she said. "You look tired."

"Thanks sweetie." He kissed her on the forehead. "Going to show Eliza the ropes?"

"Something like that," Cassie replied with a smile.

After her dad had gone, we sat down and waited. Tobias must have been watching because he came in a few minutes later.

"Whew!" he said, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "All this walking is too much when you're used to flying."

"Did you talk to Ax?" I asked.

"Yeah," Tobias said. "He's getting the box and coming straight here."

Ax had disassembled the morphing cube and hidden its components in the forest. It would take a few minutes for him to get them all.

A few minutes later Jake and Marco swooped in through the roof and prepared to demorph.

Tobias, you'd better morph back now. It'll take a little while, said Jake.

We watched the two half-bird, half-humans morph for twenty minutes. It was definitely time to get it done.

"Tobias," Jake said, a note of irritation in his voice.

"I can't," replied Tobias.

"What do you mean?"

"He's human, Jake," said Cassie. "Eliza found him a place to live and he morphed human to stay."

"Bird-boy no more," said Tobias with a grin.

"Welcome back to the land of the civilized!" said Marco, slapping him on the back.

Jake's frown slowly grew into a smile. He looked at me as if to say, "Yeah, it was worth the wait."

"I have it, Prince Jake," said Ax, walking in the barn door in human morph. He was holding a large blue cube.

"I will now morph to my own form," he continued. "After many hours of studying--yeeng--the instructions provided by Eliza, I believe I'm ready."

Luckily, Ax was unaffected as far as morphing went, so it didn't take him long.

"Are you ready?" Jake asked me.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Here," Cassie said. She handed Tobias his vial of blood.

"What is that?" asked Marco, a bit disgusted.

"Hawk blood," Tobias answered, putting it in his pocket.

"Don't you think that's a little sick?"

"It's so he can re-acquire the hawk, Marco," said Cassie.

"Oh."

"Go ahead, Ax," said Jake.

Ax held up the cube with one hand touching the bottom square. We each reached out for a side, one by one.

First Jake.

Then Cassie.

Marco.

Tobias.

"This is for you, Rachel," he whispered.

Then finally, me.

There was a slight tingle and then it was all over.

"Welcome to the Animorphs!" said Marco.

"Huh?"

"It's just a little name I came up with," he explained. "It stands for animal morphers."

I laughed.

"Cool. Now do I get a flashy spandex uniform?" I joked.

"Well, actually," Cassie started, "Sort of, yes."

"You can't morph anything but tight clothing," said Jake. "We always wear spandex or something under our regular clothes."

"And no shoes," added Marco.

"Sounds exciting," I said.

Cassie held up a black and purple leotard and gave it to me.

"It was one of Rachel's," she said. She laughed a little. "She would have wanted you to be well-dressed for your first morph."

I looked down at the garment then up at Jake. He nodded his approval and I changed in one of the empty stalls.

"So what'll it be?" asked Cassie, gesturing toward the caged animals. "Choose your first morph."

I looked carefully over all the various species, but I already knew which one I wanted.

Bessie.

I looked at Tobias.

"Think a flying lesson will pay off part of those debts?" he asked, holding up the tube of blood.

I smiled broadly.

"Let's do it."


End file.
